Kids Climbing Wall
2019/Short
Director
A documentary following Chinese students studying abroad in the United States.Kids Climbing Walls is a documentary that follows three Chinese students studying at USC, each from a different academic background and stage of life.Through their everyday experiences, the film observes how young people navigate identity, ambition, cultural displacement, and personal uncertainty while living and studying abroad. Rather than focusing on dramatic events, the documentary centers on gradual change—how beliefs, confidence, and self-understanding evolve over time.
The film uses the metaphor of the “wall” to describe both visible and invisible barriers: cultural bias, language, expectation, and internal pressure.